"You make it look so easy!" This crazy life looks easy? I am so thankful people are gracious enough to tell me that I make caring for Evan look easy. But hold your horses, folks. Most days are a marathon that we have to pace ourselves to get through. This life? It's way beyond me. But I totally get this. Many people who do things often enough are able to make them look easy. Surgeons. I … [Read more...]
I Will Never Forget
As last Friday came around (September 11), I kept seeing posts about "never forget," missing loved ones who left us that September day 14 years ago. It really made me think about not forgetting where we came from, my son and I. I will never forget when he couldn't talk at all at even age 3. He couldn't tell us his basic needs. He would take my hand and bring it to the thing he wanted. … [Read more...]
I Never Dreamed
This week one of my good friends accompanied his eighteen-year-old son off to join the Marines. Another friend sent his eighteen-year-old child off to college. My son turns eighteen in two weeks. Last night he peed in the bathtub. The gap between our life and the life of a typical family is sometimes so vast that it’s difficult to comprehend. As my wife likes to say, “Sometimes my … [Read more...]
Don’t Run From Suffering
This collage contains my all-time favorite pictures of Joel. Did I say all-time favorite? I LOVE THESE PICTURES! I laughed out loud in the middle of Walgreen's as I thumbed through my order. I have Joel's sister, Sarah, to thank. She shot them in Gatlinburg, outside the Mellow Mushroom restaurant, where we'd just had some of the best pizza we'd ever eaten. We were on vacation in the Great Smoky … [Read more...]
God’s timing is perfect!
The basement is spotless and the stations are perfectly arranged. On one side of the room, a table to beautify nails. On the other, three plastic basins complete with soft coloured stones to perfect your feet. Plus a cosy arrangement of chairs, pillows and blankets to round out the spa setting. As I take it all in, I am awash in a wonderful feeling that our adult daughter, Tori, still takes … [Read more...]
An Upside Down Joy
You've been here with me, I think? When your world is turned upside down and nothing will ever be right again. Time marches and the grace keeps flowing and you find joy breathes again from the most unlikely places. AN UPSIDE DOWN JOY Loss sweeps you off your feet. It comes, uninvited, with no apology It lifts you up, tips you upside-down and shakes you til you're … [Read more...]